In the technology of filling liquid products, in particular in the medical sector, and in the drinks industry, the aseptic filling of containers is an extremely important production method. With the known methods for aseptic filling, a container to be filled is transferred into a clean room exposed to a special atmosphere and filled with the sterile or aseptically pretreated liquid. Depending on the requirements that are made on the purity of the liquids to be filled, different classes of rooms with a special atmosphere are stipulated for the filling. For the filling of medical solutions, for example, it is necessary for the filling nozzle and the container opening to be located in a clean-room class A. This clean-room class defines, according to certain conditions, a maximum permissible number of particles and germs. By definition, it is necessary for a clean room of class A to be surrounded by a clean room of class B, which permits a higher particle number per volume of atmosphere.
The known aseptic filling methods enable a largely germ-free filling of containers with liquids. In contrast with conventional sterilization methods, which are used as standard in medical technology for the sterilization of solution containers for example, the aseptic filling methods offer the advantage of obtaining liquids filled in a sufficiently germ-free manner without heat/pressure treatment. In this regard, the aseptic filling methods are superior to the standard heat sterilization. This becomes particularly clear when large-volume solution containers, for example bags with solutions for peritoneal dialysis, with a volume of several liters, are sterilized by a heat/pressure method. Long heating phases are required for this in order that the liquid present in the bags can accept the corresponding temperature. At the same time, it is necessary to build up an external high pressure acting on the bags in order that the bags do not burst due to the heat-induced internal pressure.
US Patent Publication 2005/0075613 A1 describes a port for a medical container, which has an axially displaceable closure stopper. In the event of an over-pressure building up in the container, the closure stopper is displaced, so that the over-pressure can be reduced. The removal from or filling of the bag is intended to take place by means of a needle which is pierced through the closure stopper.
There is known from EP 1 132 107 A2 a connector with a closure element which serves as a connection piece for transfer systems. The known connector is not intended for the filling of containers. Flow-through openings are freed when the closure element is displaced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,727 describes a port for a bag, which has a closure body with a closure stopper, said closure body extending into the bag interior. For the removal of the liquid, the closure stopper located in the bag interior is pulled out of the closure body. For this purpose, it is necessary to act manually on the closure stopper from the bag exterior through the bag wall.
There is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,363 a device and a method for the aseptic filling of flexible bags which are pre-sterilized. With the known method, the port of the bag is introduced into a filling room which is sterilized. After the filling of the bag, the port is sealed with a closure disc, so that an additional process step is required.
A device and a method for the filling of bottles, wherein only the bottle neck of the bottles is channeled into a clean room through which special atmosphere flows, are known from EP 1 514 835 A1.
There is known from EP 1 230 144 B1 a device and a method for the sterile filling of containers, wherein the containers are channeled into a clean room in which a closure station is located, which places closure caps, also referred to as sealing caps, onto the containers. The containers are then finally closed outside the clean room, there being applied onto the closure cap a closure element which can be a conventional screw-type closure.
EP 0 352 540 A2 describes a closure cap for dialyzers. Located inside the cap is a sealing element, which in a first position enables the flow-through of a sterilization liquid and in a second position seals the sterilized dialyzer hermetically. The known closure cap is intended for so-called in-line sterilization, wherein the sterilization takes place on the production line of the dialyzer. The closure cap is not intended for the filling of a container to be filled with a liquid filling and the closing of the same after the filling with the liquid filling, so that the liquid filling is packaged in a sterile fashion.